Judith Made an excellent suggestion.  Here, I have been complaining
that the FML is not what it used to be, but I am not posting the kind
of articles I would like to see more of.
 
Sooo, here is a post I made back in the early years.  While all of
the ferrets mentioned are now long gone to the Bridge, it is still
representative of what goes on in my house.
 
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One of the things I love about having ferrets is that they are always
doing something new and different.  Just when I think that I know every
possible mischievous thing they can do, they come up with something new.
Friday night they surprised me with 2 new 'tricks'.
 
The first incident involved Hershey and a magazine.  For some reason,
Hershey just had to have this magazine that was on the coffee table.
Actually, his brother ET was also interested at first.  Both boys are
big enough to stand on their hind legs and get their heads and front legs
up on the table.  Because the table is smooth and slippery, they can not
pull themselves up on it though.  So, first they would stand up and try
to grab the magazine with their teeth.  When I finally had it positioned
so they could not reach it from any side of the table, they started
climbing on the sofa and trying to jump to the table.  They could almost
make it, and I was afraid they would hurt themselves, so I moved the
table further away from the sofa.  ET knew how to foil this attempt at
keeping them from the magazine - he immediately pushed some sofa cushions
on the floor, climbed on them, and started to climb up on the coffee
table.  I was trying to watch the news on TV, and so I took the desired
magazine and put it on the table in our front foyer.
 
The table in the foyer is long and narrow, and sits along one wall.
Midget's cage fits under it perfectly, and so that is where her cage is
kept.  Hersh saw me put the magazine on this table, and so while ET lost
interest, and went off to do something else, Hersh went into the foyer,
and started walking back and forth, looking up at the table.
 
I was seated about 15 feet away, and could see everything he did
perfectly.  After a while, he started pushing Midget's cage away from the
wall, and trying to get behind it.  Since the boys frequently do this (I
think they are convinced the back of the cage has a secret door that they
could use to get into the cage, if they could just find it), I didn't
think much about it.  He would get between the wall and the cage, and
push it out, and then come around to the front and look at it.  Then,
he would start the process over.  Finally he climbed on top of the cage,
and I realized what he was trying to do.
 
The first time up, he walked across the cage to the front, and looked up.
Apparently, the cage was not far enough forward yet, because he got down
and pushed it forward some more.  Then, he climbed back on top and walked
to the front again.  This time he was able to stand up on his hind legs
and get his front paws on the table.  He could not pull himself up on the
table, but he could reach his prized magazine.  He grabbed it and jerked
it onto the floor, quickly jumped down himself, and started dragging it
off to the bedroom.  Of course, I was immediately on my feet and
apprehended him.  I told him he was very clever, but he still couldn't
have my magazine.
 
Shortly after that it was time for my furry children to go to their cages
for the night, so I could go to bed.  I had found and caged everyone
except Jazzy, and started looking in every hiding place I knew they had.
Although she is much larger now then she was several weeks ago, she is
still pretty small, and so she actually has some places only she can get
into.  But try as I might, I couldn't find her.  My son arrived home from
his date, and helped me for a while, but still no luck.  He finally gave
up and went to bed, and I continued searching alone (my SO is out of
town).  It was getting very late, and I was getting very tired.  I knew
she had to be somewhere in the house - I had last seen her about the time
the magazine incident started.  I was just worried she had gotten trapped
somewhere, and could be hurt.  I was trying to decide if I should go to
bed and leave her loose or not.  I was afraid that although I was tired,
I would worry and not be able to sleep.  I was in the kitchen, and
noticed some white fuzz sticking out from under the kitchen table leg.
 
We have a kitchen table that is a reproduction of early American tables
with one big leg in the center.  On the real tables the leg is solid
wood, and I had never checked ours carefully.  Now I got down on the
floor to check this out.
 
There was a very small space between the floor and the bottem of the leg
(the leg is held up by 4 feet).  I stuck a finger under the leg, and
found it was hollow inside.  Also, Jazzy had somehow crawled into the
area, and was curled up asleep.  I nudged her awake, and lured her out
with some NutriCal.  She had to struggle a little to get out, so I am
hoping she doesn't try this again.
 
At least now I could go to bed and not worry.
Ya jus gotta luv those fuzzbutts.
 
Dooks to all
Danee DeVore
Hershey (But Mom, I want to read it)
ET (Ok, you win, I'll go do something else.)
Jazzy (Rats, you found me)
and the other 4 - Midget, Sassy, Buster and Mosby
[Posted in FML issue 1679]
[Posted in FML issue 4854]